Chelsea defender John Terry, who has been named in Hodgson's squad, was stripped of the England captaincy in February. Terry is due to stand trial in July over racial abuse allegations after an incident with QPR's Anton Ferdinand.

"I know him of course, as a player, I know him as a person," added Hodgson about Gerrard on Wednesday.

"I know how committed he is to the England cause and he was delighted last night when I told him of my decision.

"I shall be counting on him, of course, to help me as much as he possibly can to build the type of team unity and the type of environment that I think's going to be very necessary for us to thrive in an important tournament."